Lauren Groff interviewed over at Full Stop about her novel Arcadia, which was a Millions Staff Pick in April.
It’s the opposite of a happy ending fairy tale. It’s just hell.
Reading and Rock and Roll
The latest episode of WNYC's Soundcheck features Jennifer Egan discussing her rock-inflected novel A Visit from the Goon Squad and Bookslut's Michael Schaub talking up other "essential rock fiction." (Thanks, Derek)
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The legends and the largely forgotten
The National Book Foundation has an online exhibit of the runners up for the award since its inception in 1950. That's a lot of titles, so you might like to let John Williams be your guide.
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The Circle of Life
Matthew Shaer takes a gander at the history of book pulping.
8-bits on 8-bits on 8-bits
From the folks who brought you 8-bit illustrations of 8 Short Stories’ Opening Lines, get a load of 10 Classic Novel Covers in 8-bit form. Together, this might be enough to actually make you want to listen to Anamanaguchi.
Rejoice, Ye Antiquarians
This one is for all you antiquarians out there. The oldest known draft of the most widely read work in all of English literature, the King James Bible, has been discovered in the archives at Sidney Sussex College in Cambridge. William Shakespeare’s books have also sold a ton of copies, and here’s an essay from The Millions that imagines him as a kind of God, Himself.
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Last Orders
For better or worse, the publication date of Umberto Eco's final book has been bumped up -- originally set for a summertime release, Pepe Satàn Aleppe: Chronicles of a Liquid Society is now due out in Italian this weekend. Check out this Eco essay on how to travel with a salmon.
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Vintage Hemingway
The Toronto Star is re-releasing the columns Ernest Hemingway wrote for the paper in the early 1920s. I particularly recommend his column on bullfighting, “Bullfighting is Not a Sport – It is a Tragedy.”
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